


Silent for Awhile

by grimdigee



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dialogue Heavy, Gen, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), I used the word boy too much, POV Sokka (Avatar), Sad, Self-Indulgent, Talking, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:53:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25081927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grimdigee/pseuds/grimdigee
Summary: The boy is speaking, a raspy, broken voice, the voice of a teenager, 'Or the voice of someone who spent too long screaming.' Sokka's mind provides unhelpfully.Or, Zuko and Sokka meet in a different way.OR, I needed to get it out of my system and it's really short...
Relationships: Sokka & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 115





	Silent for Awhile

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE READ:  
> Okay, while I doubt I'm going to expand on this at all, I just wanted to explain real quick, Zuko left Iroh a year ago (And cut off his ponytail at the same time), he continued his search for Aang alone but once he had gotten to the South Pole and realized he missed him, he rethought his purposes and gave up.
> 
> Katara was dead-set on leaving with Aang, Sokka stayed behind, he was out on a late night walk when he noticed Zuko sitting at the water.
> 
> This is much shorter than any fic I've ever written, but I was having a bad day today with anxiety, so I wrote this to try and cheer up :')

A boy sits alone in front of the sea, the frigid air doesn't seem to pierce his skin the way it does for Sokka, his back is to the warrior, silky black hair cascades down his neck and ends at his shoulders, vaguely, Sokka notes that it's the hair of the Fire Nation, he doesn't linger on it.

The boy is speaking, a raspy, broken voice, the voice of a teenager, 'Or the voice of someone who spent too long screaming.' Sokka's mind provides unhelpfully.

“Everytime I see my reflection, I can feel a coiling in my stomach, like a rope is being pulled taut around it, my heart stutters and misses it's notes, I hurt, it hurts me so much, years ago now, I lost everything, a year ago I abandoned the last person who loved me, I did it to protect him, I hope he found happiness where I didn't.”

Sokka walks to the boy, sitting down at his right side, he only briefly glances at his face, honey gold eyes were staring lifelessly into the depths, Sokka looked away.

They sat in silence, the young tribesman took in the world, from the icy, sparkling snow sitting atop slick, dense ice, to the waters in front of him, that went down forever into a dark and scary world, and the sky above them, glowing dimly from the light of the moon, and the stars that filled the sky.

Neither spoke for hours, they had no words to say, Tui had made her way across the skies, almost dipping below the horizon behind them before Sokka finally broke the ringing quiet.

“I met an airbender.” The boy snorted humorlessly, “I know, I came looking for him, I was looking for years, and I was too late.” Sokka hummed, “I wish I had gone with him, I was paranoid, but my sister wasn't, they're probably in the North Pole now, if you wanted to keep looking?” He asked.

The guy shook his head, “I'm done looking, it won't help me now anyways.” The brunet pondered that, “Are you Fire Nation?” He questioned after a moment, the honey eyed male smiled, “At one point.” He raised his hand and released a small flame, Sokka wanted to attack the ash-maker, a person who was responsible for his mother's demise, but he couldn't do it.

“You left?” The boy nodded, “I did, I was no longer welcome.” There was another moment of quiet, “What happened?” He turned to Sokka, letting him see the rest, sharp cheekbones and lovely, pale skin, marred by a cold smile that tainted his face, right alongside a massive burn scar.

“Well, that answers so much and so little at the same time.” That got a real laugh out of the ebony haired boy, Sokka smiled, the boy turned back to the ocean, “You said your sister left, why?” Sokka shrugged, “She was tired of living like this, wanted to help end the war I guess.” He said softly.

“I have a sister too, she's talented.” Sokka nodded, “Mine is too, I think I was jealous of her.” He looked back to the honey eyed boy, who smiled at him, “I understand that.” They stared at each other for awhile, taking in the features of the other.

“I'm Sokka... What's your name?” Sokka asked, he needed to know.

“I'm Zuko, it's nice to meet you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Repeating just in case someone missed it at the top: Zuko left Iroh a year ago (And cut off his ponytail at the same time), he continued his search for Aang alone but once he had gotten to the South Pole and realized he missed him, he rethought his purposes and gave up.
> 
> Katara was dead-set on leaving with Aang, Sokka stayed behind, he was out on a late night walk when he noticed Zuko sitting at the water.
> 
> It only just occurred to me that I wrote their dynamic similar to how I'd write Zukka and that in itself makes me want to continue it, JUST so I could get them together while traveling across the world. :')


End file.
